International Alert's Tajikistan Case Study, Climate Change, Complexity and Resilient Communities
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CLIMATE CHANGE, COMPLEXITY AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES Case study: Tajikistan Shreya Mitra and Janani Vivekananda, September 2013 CONTEXT Central Asia faces the double burden of fragility and climate change. Uneven distribution of resources across the various Central Asian countries poses significant risks to stability, with climate change adding an additional layer of insecurity. The collapse of the Soviet Union left some Central Asian countries with an abundance of water resources but limited fossil fuel energy and others with less water but more fossil fuel reserves. Transboundary sharing of water and energy resources has caused escalating tensions between the various neighbours in the region. Climate change will act as a threat multiplier by negatively impacting on the availability of these natural resources, with rising temperatures and frequent and more intensified drought already decreasing the water reserves available to upstream countries. Hydropower resources are concentrated in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the upstream countries of Central Asia’s Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. These countries however, have a negligible share of fossil fuels. Water is therefore the cheapest source of electricity for them. Downstream countries Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, on the other hand, are dependent upon water flows, especially for irrigation from the upstream countries, but are better endowed with fossil fuels and are suppliers of gas and coal to their upstream neighbours. Hydropower is especially important for the upstream countries during winter months, when heating needs are highest. As flows during winter are limited, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan store water in large reservoirs during the summertime, when water flows are more abundant. The summer months however, are precisely the months when the irrigation needs of the downstream countries are most acute. The water demands of the upstream and downstream countries are therefore directly in contention with each other. In the absence of effective mechanisms and agreements guiding trans-boundary resource sharing, the exchange of water and energy resources across the various Central Asian countries increases the conflict potential between these countries. With climate change decreasing the water available to these countries (UNDP, 2012), understanding the nexus of water, agriculture, climate and energy security is important for assessing the wider security situation in the region. CLIMATE CHANGE AND COMPLEXITY IN TAJIKISTAN Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan respectively hold 40 and 30 percent of the water resources serving the five Central Asian countries (University of Central Asia et al, 2012). However, recorded increases in ground air temperatures are affecting the water reserves available in Tajikistan (Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2008). In the face of melting glaciers and changing water tables as a result of climate warming, Tajikistan is exposed to the challenges of water security, energy security, food 1 security and insecure livelihoods. These insecurities further increase the risk of instability and conflict in the country. One of the main intervening factors in the breakout of the civil war in Tajikistan (1992–1997) was conflict over access to water and land and other resources among native and resettled populations in cotton growing areas. The root causes of conflict continue to exist today and in the wake of these existing socio-economic and political stressors, understanding the impacts of climate change becomes all the more essential. This case study therefore aims to understand the different risks and challenges facing communities at the local level in Tajikistan and the differential ways in which climate change can interact with those pre-existing risks and exacerbate them. This report is based on desk-based research and interviews conducted with farmers, cotton pickers, village elders, staff from local and international non-governmental organisations and donors in 2012 in Penjikent district in Sughd province and Khovaling and Abdurahmoni Jomi (henceforth A. Jomi) districts in Khatlon province. Penjikent is located to the north-west of the country near the Uzbek-Tajik border on the foothills of the Fan Mountains and has experienced widespread deforestation. Khovaling to the southeast of Dushanbe is at the foothills of the mountains and water-rich. A. Jomi district, south of Dushanbe is densely populated and primarily a cotton producer. UNDERSTANDING THE LINKAGES Hardest hit by climate change will be people living in poverty, in under-developed and unstable states, under weak governance. The background of poverty and governance challenges means many of these communities have both a low capacity to adapt to climate change and face a high risk of conflict. In such contexts, especially when the specific nature of climate impacts are uncertain, building community resilience to cope with a range of possible climate futures must be seen as the priority. Development and natural resource related policies must necessarily include local communities and engage their energies in a social process to work out how best to build resilience to climate change and the linked social and economic risks communities face as they arise, so that they do not become violent (Smith and Vivekananda, 2007). To understand how the effects of climate change will interact with socio-economic and political problems means tracing the consequences of the consequences (see Figure 1). This process highlights key elements of risk such as economic instability (i.e. livelihood/income insecurity), food insecurity and large-scale migration (Smith and Vivekananda, 2007). Economic instability narrows the range of income possibilities for the population and deprives the state of resources with which to meet people’s needs. Food insecurity challenges the very basis of being able to continue living in a particular locality and, as a response to that and other kinds of insecurity, large-scale migration carries high risk of conflict because of the fearful reactions it often receives and the political stresses that often greet it. In the following sections, the interactions between the effects of climate change and other socio- political and economic factors in Tajikistan are outlined. 2 Figure 1: Climate change in fragile states Water and irrigation Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a majority of water resources came under Tajik control. The glacial reserves concentrated in the Tajik mountains are considered multi-year reserves and a major source of fresh water. Glaciers cover about 6 percent of Tajikistan and their annual melting provide an average of 10 to 20 percent of river volume (UNDP, 2012; Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, 2008). Water is a critical resource for agriculture, hydropower and other related sectors in Tajikistan’s economy. Tajikistan inherited Soviet irrigation infrastructure that was put in place to cultivate arid lands. Considered a success in the initial days, Soviet irrigation technology made possible the use of otherwise unusable land, whereas today, the same irrigation infrastructure is often in a state of disrepair. According to respondents, water distribution infrastructure in A. Jomi and Khovaling districts, namely irrigation canals and pumps, is on a steady decline, resulting in some villages without direct access to water. As a result of evaporation, siltation of canals and leaks from pipes, it is estimated that less than 40 percent of the water diverted from rivers actually reaches the fields. And about 20 percent of irrigation water is directly wasted in the field (Renner, 2010). In Khovaling and A. Jomi, access to water was cited as a key concern of community representatives. The structures for water management such as a Water Authority and Water Associations are in place in Khovaling. However, budgetary allocations to ensure their effective functioning and operation are often ‘on paper’ and lacking in practice. 3 Cotton monopoly A cotton monoculture, a directive of the Soviet era, has resulted in the allocation of vast amount of water resources towards the cultivation of cotton, a water-intensive crop. Such an orientation towards water-intensive agriculture, coupled with faulty irrigation infrastructure and a naturally arid climate, is drying up the water resources in the country. The ‘cotton monopoly’ has not only neglected the long-term environmental impacts of dwindling water reserves but has also hurt the prospects of people to diversify their livelihoods. According to respondents in A. Jomi district, there are only few jobs outside the cotton industry making it difficult to find an alternative source of livelihood. Even within the cotton producing profession, the majority of incomes are at best, at subsistence levels. Cotton production in Tajikistan Cotton contribution to economy accounts for between 75-90 percent of agricultural exports since Soviet times (FAO, 2009). It has been the country’s main cash crop. However, cotton production in Tajikistan is not without its problems, both social and environmental. On the social side, wages for cotton pickers are notoriously low; the industry is controlled by a small number of politically connected traders. On the environmental front, cotton production is both highly water intensive and damaging to water sources due to the polluting effects of fertilisers which run-off the fields. Under the Soviet regime, collective cotton farms had to meet targets for cotton production, which put a lot of pressure